Support for telephone-receivers.



No. 779,940. PATENTED JAN. 10, 1905. P. P. HOWE.

SUPPORT FOR TELEPHONE RECEIVERS.

APPLIUATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1904. I

A TTOR/VEYS UNITED STATES Patented January 10, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

SUPPORT FOR TELEPHONE-RECEIVERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 779,940, dated January 10, 1905.

Application filed September 23, 1904. Serial No. 225,651.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK F. HOWE, a citizen of the United States, residing at Marietta, in the county of Washington and State of Ohio, have made certain new and useful Improvements in Supports for Telephone-Receivers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in telephone-receiver supports, and has for an object to providea novel construction for supporting the receiver so constructed that when the receiver is released after being used it will operate automatically to close the switch of the telephone and cutout the receiver; and the invention consists in certain novel constructions and combinations of parts, as will be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of my invention as in use. Fig. 2 is a central top plan view thereof. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the support for the receiver, and Fig. 4 is a detail view illustrating the telescopic construction of the intermediate section.

The telephone may be of any ordinary construction and is represented as the usual walltelephone with the switch provided with a fork A, adapted to receive the ordinary telephone-receiver.

The improved construction includes a baseplate B,which is adapted to be secured to the wall alongside the base-board of the telephone and is provided with the laterally-projecting arms, which are offset at B to lap at upon the base-board of the telephone atone edge of the latter. The base-plate B is provided with a threaded socket b, in which screws one end of the bearing-tube O, the latter being provided at one side with a slot O, extending in the direction of length of the tube O and made of suffieient length and width to permit the limited movement of the inner or main section of the supporting-bar both longitudinally and in a rotary direction, as will be presently described. The tube O is braced by a strut-brace C extending between it and the base-plate, as best shown in Fig. 1. The supporting-bar is composed of the inner section D, the intermediate section E, and the outer section F. The intermediate section E is pivoted at one end at E to the outer end of the main section D and at its other end at E to the inner end of the outer section F, the pivots E and E being at a right angle to each other, so the outer section may be swung laterally or up and down in order to bring the receiver Gto the ear of the operator. Springs 6 and 6 control the pivotjoints E and E and tend to hold the sections of the supporting-bar normally in alinement and at the same time permit the movement of the sections on the pivots E and E to bring the receiver properly to the ear of the operator. It may be preferred in some instances to make the intermediate section E extensible longitudinally by forming the same in telescopic sections, as illustrated in Figs. 1, 2, and 3 and as shown in detail in Fig. 4c, in which the section 1 has a longitudinal rib 2, which fits in a slot 3 in the section 4, the latter being split at 5 and fitting over the section 1 with sufficient spring or grip tohold it in place when fitted thereon. This construction permits the operator to remove the receiver whenever desired, as when it is desired to use the ear on the opposite side from that on which the regular receiver is hung.

The main section D of the supporting-bar may move longitudinally or turn within the bearing-tube O and is provided with a laterally-projecting crank-arm H, which extends through the slot O and limits the longitudinal and turning movement of the bar D within the said tube.

At its outer end the section F is provided with a clamp f, in which may be held the end of the receiver G opposite the earpiece, the said receiver projecting laterally to the line of the supporting-bar, so that it will operate as a crank for said supporting-bar, its weight tending when the receiver is released to turn the supporting-bar in its bearing-tube G from the elevated position shown in full lines, Fig. 1, to the dotted-line position indicated in the same figure. WVhen this is done, the movement of the supporting-bar rotarily from its position for use to the position of rest operates through intermediate mechanism to close the switch and cut out the phone. This may be effected in various ways, but is preferably the arms of the fork A.

accomplished by the means shown and includ ing the crank-arm H of the supporting-bar and a link I, connected with the outer end of the crank-arm and extending thence and con nected with the switch A. As shown, the link I is in the form of a bail, connected at its bent or intermediate portion with the crank-arm H and having its arms provided at their free ends with projecting ends c', forming lateral studs which operate within the openings in It will be noticed that these studst' fit loosely in the holes in the fork A, and this is desirable, because it permits the receiver to be raised or lowered to a certain extent when in use without cutting out the receiver or phone.

The construction is simple and can be easily applied to the ordinary telephone in common use Without any change whatever in the construction of such telephone. It will be noticed the improvement automatically cuts out the phone when the operator is through using the same and prevents any one from setting the receiver on the shelf or otherwise placing the same when through using it so that it will not cut out the phone.

The invention can be embodied in desk form or applied to phones having different forms of switch and dispenses with the necessity of holding the receiver by the hand in using the phone.

It will be noticed that the axis of the clamp f is at a right angle to the axis of the bearing for the supporting-bar, which is important, as thereby the receiver itself when secured at one end in the clamp F operates as a crankarm in turning the supporting-bar within its bearings.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

1. The improvement in telephone-receiver supports herein described, comprising the base-plate the bearing-tube secured thereto and having a longitudinal slot, the receiversupporting bar composed of the main section having a longitudinal and turning movement in the bearing-tube and provided with a crankarm extending outwardly through the slot in said tube and adapted to limit the movement of such main section and to transmit such movement to a telephone-switch, the intermediate section jointed at its inner end to the outer end of the main section, the outer section jointed at its inner end to the outer end of the intermediate section and provided at its outer end with a clamp for the telephonereceiver, the pivots or axes of such joints being at an angle to each other, springs controlling such joints and operating to hold the sections of the supporting-bar normally in alinement, and a link for connecting the crankarm of the main section with the telephoneswitch, substantially as set forth.

2. A telephone-receiver support comprising a main section, an intermediate section, and an outer section, jointed together, springs for holding said sections normally in alinement, and a clamp carried by the outer section for the receiver, the intermediate section being made in telescopic sections fitted detachably together, substantially as set forth.

3. The combination of a receiver-supporting bar provided at one end with a clamp for a telephone-receiver, bearings in which said supporting-bar may turn, the axis of the receiver-clamp being at a right angle to that of the bearing for the supporting-bar whereby a receiver when held in the clamp will operate as a crank for turning the supporting-bar in its bearings, and means whereby the turning of the supporting-bar in its bearings may operate a telephone-switch, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of a receiver-supportin g bar composed of sections pivoted together, springs controlling such pivots and operating to hold the sections of the supporting-bar normally in alinement, a bearing in which the supporting-bar may turn, means whereby the turning of the supporting-bar may operate the switch of a telephone, and a clamp carried by the supporting-bar for securing a telephone-receiver, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of a receiver-supporting bar, a bearing-tube in which said bar may move longitudinally and turn, such tube being provided with a slot, a crank-arm extending from the supporting-bar through said slot, and means for connecting such crank-arm with a telephone-switch, substantially as set fort 1.

6. The combination with a slotted bearingtube, and a receiver-supporting bar turning therein, of a crank-arm projecting from the supporting-bar through the slot of the bearing-tube, and a link for connecting such crankarm with a telephone-switch.

FRANK F. HOWE.

Witnesses:

J. HENRY BEST, W. S. HANoocK. 

